College of Liberal Arts, Department of English

Digital Technology & Culture

DTC Awards

Each year, the DTC Program in Pullman recognizes outstanding achievement in graphic design, film editing, video production, web development, and animation. These awards are given during the last week of Spring semester at the DTC Showcase.

Spring 2014 Award Winners

On April 29, 2014 the following awards were given for outstanding student achievement. Click the image to visit the text.

Best Stop Motion Animation: Kelsey Johnson

Kelsey made this stop motion video for DTC 354: Digital Storytelling. The assignment was to write a one sentence story, and then create a stop motion video telling that story in one minute or less. To make this video, Kelsey took the pictures using a DSLR camera and a tripod, edited using Photoshop, and finally put it all together using Windows Movie Maker. She used music with Creative Commons licenses and mixed the soundtrack using Sony Acid 8.0. The committee enjoyed the creative story telling, the playful imagery, and the effective use of sound. (click the image to watch the animation)

Best Website: Mara Almanzor

This was a project made for Mara's DTC 498 internship project. Mara used Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver as well as Illustrator when creating the chalkboard background effect and chalk text on some pages such as the 'About' page. And before actually creating the site with HTML(5), CSS(3), and some JavaScript, she used Illustrator to create the design she had in mind while collaborating with the owner. The committee liked the overall design and usability of the site, and also applauded Mara’s efforts at creating this site from the ground up (instead of using a template). The site definitely captures the coffeehouse atmosphere. (click the image to visit the site)

Best Video Editing: Jacob Oster

“For spring break, my roommate came up with a wild idea of RV'ing with a couple of friends throughout Eastern British Columbia to ski 5 days at 3 resorts. Leading up to our 1400 mile trip, we decided to be even bolder; We set up a generic sponsorship proposal and emailed 100+ companies and recieved 7 sponsors who provided us with over $1400 worth of products including 120 Ninkasi beers, 12 beardheads, and a variety of other products. As a deal with our sponsors we made 3 smaller edits of ski footage throughout the trip along with a final production. This is the final production. After 20+ hours of work in Adobe premiere cutting, editing, and color correcting, my video was finished. “ The committee found the editing of this video to be extremely well done. The cuts, fades, pacing, and extremely adept use of music made the movie a real pleasure to watch, and made us all want to go skiing, though maybe not in speedos. (click the image to watch the video)

Best Video: Angela Bonner

This video is a short-fiction film that Angela made for DTC 354: Digital Storytelling. The story, told through audio logs and video, follows Nina and Anni as they make their way through a deserted world where they are apparently the last two people left. The committee really enjoyed the cinematography and pacing of the story, also finding it well-written and well-acted. Some members of the committee commented how it held their attention throughout and they found themselves saddened when it ended. Darkly Part 2? (click the image to watch the animation)

Best Beginning 3D Animation: Calin Scott

Calin Scott made this animation in DTC 335: Digital Animation: Story, Narration and Production. The project was modeled and animated entirely in Maya.(click the image to watch the animation)

Best Advanced 3D Animation: Maria Pham and Susan Cannarella

Maria Pham and Susan Cannarella made this animation in DTC 338: Advanced Digital Animation. The project was modeled and animated entirely in Maya.(click the image to watch the animation)

Best Print Design: Mackenzie Brooks

This poster was made for Jeff Kuure’s FA 332 class. Mackenzie wanted to make vintage looking posters of snowboarders and skiers and used Adobe Illustrator to create the image. The committee felt these posters successfully referenced the feel of the vintage poster (through the color scheme and areas of flat color referencing screenprinting) while also feeling contemporary, due to subject matter and angularity of some of the marks.

(click the image for a larger view)

Spring 2012 Award Winners

On April 25, 2012 the following awards were given for outstanding student achievement.

(tie) Best Print Design: Dustin Hall

This poster was designed by Dustin Hall for the Wellbeing Program's Good Night Cougs campaign. Dustin worked with a client and several partners to create a logo and branding for the entire 2011 Set the Trend Campaign. This included posters, fliers, banners, t-shirts, pillow cases and packaging for ear plugs and tea. Dustin used primarily hand illustration and CS5 Illustrator to create the posters and some Indesign. The committee appreciated its creativity in utilizing the Goodnight Moon trope as a means of catching people’s attention. We were also impressed with the hand illustration work.

This poster was created for the Belltower Concert House and Event Venue in Pullman where Jill works as an intern. In desribing the poster, Jill says, “I was inspired by Swiss design, and wanted to make a band poster that reflected this. I decided to throw something atypical in, and created a black and white outline of the band members themselves. This was created entirely in InDesign (except the outlines, which were made in Photoshop).” The committee thought it was eye catching, and in fact a few of us even remembered seeing the poster around town--effective visual branding!

(click the image for a larger view)

Best Logo: Jordan LeClaire

This was a project completed in David Huyck’s DTC 336: Composition & Design class. Students worked with the Palouse Food Bank to produce a logo & company identification proposal. Jordan says: “While designing my logo for the Palouse Food Bank …I wanted to use design elements that would represent the city and surrounding Palouse area while also using design elements that could represent the operation of the food bank.” The committee loved the simplicity and effectiveness of brining together both the geography of the Palouse and the mission of the foodbank. (click the image for a larger view)

This was a project made in David Huyck’s DTC477: Advanced Multimedia Authoring course. The class was charged with designing a website for the Palouse Food Bank that provided information about getting involved and utilizing the services of the food bank. The committee felt this website was very effective in both its usability and its use of aesthetics. The site is warm, welcoming, and user friendly. (click the image to visit the site)

Best Video Editing: Bryan Varner

This video was made by Bryan Varner (and Keegan Snow, the cinematographer) for Red Bull. Thomas Oehler is a world champion Trial Bike rider who did a ‘Back to School’ tour with Red Bull, and WSU was one of the Universities he visited. Bryan edited the material using Adobe Premiere Pro CS5. The slow motion bits are made using the Twixtor plugin. The committee was impressed with the choices of shots, the transitions, and the great use of timing between the music and the images. (click the image to watch the movie)

Best Film: Beth Notturno

This video was made for Rebecca Goodrich’s DTC 354:Digital Storytelling class. Beth says, “I sought to [share the] story of my twin brother, at a time in his life where the silver lining has been difficult to see. ... The audio synthesizes the voices of his mother, father, and sisters. Throughout, I embedded the film with clues to John's personality, history, and current situation to connect the viewer to a person whom I am deeply connected to – perhaps more than anyone in the world.” The committee thought the video was beautifully shot and tells a very complicated story through a very simple, yet effective, use of verbal and visual narrative. (click the image to watch the movie)

Best Animation: Brett Lambright and Nick Shephard

This is a 3D animation project called "Hole in One" that was made for the final project of the 3D Animation class, DTC 335, in the Fall of 2011. The project was modeled and animated entirely in Maya. Lambright and Shephard describe, “It took 3 and a half months of intense work to make and finish on time. We like how the project turned out. It flows well and the models look fairly good. It's not perfect, but we learned a lot from making it.” The committee was impressed not only with the quality of the animation, but also with the clever storytelling. (click the image to watch the animation)

Updates

Save your work from class and internships so as to submit to the 2015 DTC Awards!